


Put a Ring On It

by plothound



Category: Original Work
Genre: Armor, Armor Kink, Bad BDSM Etiquette, Bondage, Chains, Clothed Sex, F/M, Femdom, Injury, Kissing, Literal Sleeping Together, Medieval BDSM, Oral Sex, Pain, Suspension, They're trying okay, Vaginal Fingering, well one of them gets it and one of them doesn't
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 10:11:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14952687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plothound/pseuds/plothound
Summary: A baroness and her knight very much enjoy bondage. The knight is record-breakingly terrible at judging when something is too much for him.





	Put a Ring On It

**Author's Note:**

> Bondage, suspension, pain, injury, femdom, oral sex, vaginal fingering, kissing, sleeping together.

The personal sigil of Baroness Elenia of Carannia Castle was a wreath of nettles. It was a far cry from House Carannia’s crested gryphon devouring a knight, but the two symbols worked well together. The baroness’s tailors and heralds were forever coming up with inventive new ways to combine them, such as a wreath of nettles worn about the neck of the gryphon, or binding the gryphon and knight together, or simply encircling the house sigil. 

 

As her ladyship’s marshal, Sir Vatra’s armor was adorned with two iron rings carved to resemble nettles, one on the breastplate and one on the backplate. In battle, they could be pinned in place for safety, but in the normal course of his duties, he let them clink as he walked, the better to let the world know of his station. Her ladyship was also fond of being reminded of them, nearly as fond as she was of reminding him of them.

 

Vatra was her marshal, captain of her guard, in charge of her safety, but he was also the finest of her knights, and he was occasionally dispatched to deal with particularly dangerous monsters. For example, when a minotaur menaced the eastern reaches of the realm, and slew four knights sent to end its rampages, Vatra was commanded to return its head to the castle, and this he did.

 

He rode up to the castle on the evening of the third day. His horse, an affable dappled charger called Ephran, was somewhat worn out, but Vatra was exhausted. Ephran had had to ferry him east and back again, to be sure, but it was Vatra who had hunted the beast down, done battle with it, and cleaved monstrous head from mighty neck. The minotaur hadn’t left him unscathed, either. If a couple of ribs weren’t cracked, he was at least sporting a great dark bruise with a few lines of broken skin. It was on his right side, stretching around from beneath his pectoral to his lower back, and he hadn’t had the heart to twist and inspect it closely as of yet. It stabbed him with every step, every breath.

 

He was immediately recognized, and he rode in the open gates unchallenged. He handed Ephran off to a stable boy for a thorough rubbing and warm mash, but not before he untied a sack from his saddlebags, one that was stained with dark liquid.

 

Baroness Elenia was not holding court today, which relieved Vatra somewhat. If she had been, he would have had to present the head in public, which would have involved getting down on one knee, which he didn’t like to imagine at the moment. He knew his mistress, and she would not force him to stick to such etiquette in private.

 

He found her alone in her study, working at sums. She was a well-educated woman, and quite an able governor of her lands. She employed a steward, as any titled landowner did, but she did not allow the little man to effectively rule her people for her, as so many did. Vatra was proud of her. It was not his place to be proud, of course, but he remembered when her lord father had died, when she was terribly young, and Vatra not much older. The sad, frightened young girl had long since grown into a powerful woman. Not uncommonly beautiful, it was true, but she had a striking aspect, and in any case, the quality of Vatra’s service did not depend on the attractiveness of his commander.

 

She looked up as he entered and closed the door behind him. “You’re back quickly,” she noted. “It’s not been three days.”

 

“No, my lady.” He opened the sack and lifted the minotaur’s head out by a horn, careful not to let anything drip on the carpet or floor.

 

The baroness’s nose wrinkled slightly at the smell, but she seemed largely unfazed. “Did it give you much trouble?”

 

“Nothing too bad, my lady.” The words stung in Vatra’s side.

 

Elenia gave a businesslike nod. Then she set her quill aside and leaned forward onto her desk. “As I recall, I asked you for a certain favor, if it did not threaten your safety overmuch.”

 

“That you did, my lady,” Vatra said. He put the head back in the sack.

 

A corner of her mouth tugged upward in a slight smile. “And? What were your observations?”

 

“I was able to look upon it for a while before I made myself known, my lady.” Vatra carefully kept a straight face. “Its member was like that of a horse.”

 

Elenia snorted. It was a dignified snort, as snorts went, but it still destroyed her baronal composure, and she discarded it fully to lean back into her chair with a real smile. “Good God, Vatra, you’ve all the subtlety of a battering ram.”

 

“Apologies, my lady.”

 

“Heavens, don’t apologize, it’s one of your finest qualities.” She pushed a long, brown braid, now shot through with a few lines of gray but still as soft and shimmering as ever, back over her shoulder and rested a hand on her face in amusement. “And how did it make you feel to see it?”

 

Vatra considered for a moment. “Nervous, my lady.”

 

“And why was that?”

 

He had to consider that, too. “It seemed to me as a sign of the beast’s strength and virility. With a manhood so impressive, especially when fitted to a monster of its size, it seemed to outstrip me in every way. Only a dumb beast, so perhaps I should not have worried, but when I saw it walking around, a hulking thing built like a prize bull, with a cock swinging more than half to its knees and balls to match, I was frightened. It seemed that I had overestimated myself.”

 

“And had you?” Elenia’s voice was low and serious.

 

“Difficult to say, my lady. I underestimated its speed at first, that’s for certain. It was able to get in a blow, and I do not doubt that a few more such would have killed me.”

 

Her brow furrowed in concern. “Vatra, are you well?”

 

“Fair enough, my lady,” Vatra said, chancing a bit of a shrug. “I’ll need to see a man of medicine to ensure that I heal properly, but I’m in no danger.”

 

“You’re sure?”

 

“I have always told your ladyship the truth.”

 

Elenia’s look of worry quieted a little, and she smiled a touch, but her brows were still knitted, and the smile lent itself more to a grimace. “I don’t doubt it in the slightest, Vatra, but you’ve always been much more adept at showing the proper concern for others than for yourself. You must heal properly, do you understand? We are neither of us as young as we once were.”

 

“You seem beautiful as ever, my lady.”

 

She laughed a little. “I thought we had just established that you never lie.”

 

“It’s a different kind of beauty, my lady,” Vatra said, trying to make himself understood. “A womanly beauty, one that commands a certain respect, rather than a maid’s comeliness. Absent the suppleness and smoothness of youth, perhaps, but one that speaks of great character, which a maid’s looks cannot.”

 

She stared at him for a moment before snorting again. “Good God. I’ve no idea whether to feel flattered or mocked. Have you always been a poet?”

 

“Can’t say I’ve ever been accused of that, my lady.”

 

She shook her head with a smile, then grew serious. “Vatra, I require your honesty. Could you attend to my private needs without a rest first?” She held up a hand to stop him before he could speak. “And consider it seriously, please. I was thinking of trying something rather intense, and it wouldn’t do for you to pass out midway through. I’ve no idea what I’d tell the physician.” She gave him a quick smile to show that the last was in jest. 

 

Vatra considered. He’d attended to the baroness’s private needs for years, given her lack of a husband, and it was true that it could be exhausting, depending on the mood she was in. Her ladyship was fond of bedchamber games, and some of those games were, in fact, extremely intense. However, she was always careful to ensure that he enjoyed himself, that he was not pushed beyond his limits. Would she acclimate to the fact that his limits were currently very low? Yes, he was sure.

 

“A drink of water first, perhaps, my lady. And…” God’s blood, it was difficult to say.

 

“Yes?” Elenia said softly. “You can tell me, Vatra.”

 

His words seemed to be fighting to stay in his throat, and he eventually gave in. “Never mind, my lady, nothing of consequence.”

 

“Vatra,” she said sharply. “Tell me.”

 

He hesitated again, but, seeing her expression, managed. For her. “It’s my side, my lady. I am not entirely well, and I fear that I require your touch to be somewhat softer than you are accustomed to.”

 

“Of course,” she said immediately. “Thank you. I know it’s difficult for you to tell me these things. Which side is it?”

 

“My right, my lady.” He set the sack down and carefully pointed out the affected areas, trying not to move his torso too much.

 

“That much?” She frowned. “No, you’d better see the doctor. Even if it’s only a bruise, you’ll want a poultice, and perhaps something stronger than water.”

 

“No, my lady,” Vatra insisted. “I can do what you wish, just… not, perhaps, as vigorously as usual.”

 

She studied him carefully for a long while. “Well, you can come to my bedchamber, at least. But you must tell me if it becomes too much. Do you understand? You  _ must  _ tell me. I command it, and my word in this is to be obeyed as fiercely as in any other matter.” 

 

Vatra hesitated. He knew that Elenia was deadly serious, and he knew that he did tend to overestimate himself, and he knew that his side did hurt terribly. But he also wanted to serve his lady, and he wouldn’t mind a release himself.

 

“I can do it, my lady.”

 

She held his gaze a moment longer before nodding. “I trust you.” Then she grinned a little, a slow, easy, lopsided grin that made his heart beat faster. “Shall we go upstairs, then?”

 

He left the minotaur head in her study and followed her up the curving stair to her bedchamber. It perched at the top of a tower, and its spacious expanse was warmed by a large hearth. Elenia moved across the wood and carpets in a swish of green gown to close the shutters. The room darkened. Vatra poured himself a drink of water from a ceramic jug and waited patiently, something in his belly trembling in anticipation.

 

Elenia crouched by her wardrobe and reached into a delicately carved box at the back of it. Vatra heard a familiar clinking and closed his eyes briefly as he felt himself begin to stiffen. He’d been well-trained to associate that sound with pleasure, and he moved to where three iron loops were set into the ceiling to hurry the process.

 

Elenia saw his movement and smiled. “I’m planning to use all three today. Is that all right?”

 

Vatra nodded sharply.

 

“Words, Vatra,” she reminded gently.

 

“Yes, my lady.”

 

She stood on a wooden footstool to thread three chains through the loops in the ceiling. “Back first, if you are agreeable.”

 

“Yes, my lady.” He could hear the eagerness in his voice, and his cock jumped when he heard the clink of a hook slide through the nettle-carved ring on his backplate. Then she hooked the second chain to his front. 

 

“Ah,” she breathed. “Almost forgot.” She slid down the visor of his helm. “There.”

 

Then she began to pull on the loose end of the chain hooked to his back, and he felt himself being pulled up and backward. It put pressure on his injury, but he ignored it. He loved this moment, the loss of control. His feet had not left the floor, but they would, and when they did, it would be difficult to free himself on his own.

 

When he had reached the height she wanted, his boots were barely brushing the floorboards. When she secured the first chain and began pulling on the second, the one looped through the ring on his front, they slipped free, and he swung back and forth with a sharp exhale, at the mercy of the chains and, more importantly, Baroness Elenia of Carannia. He hung there, breathing hard, for some time.

 

Elenia waited for his breathing to return to normal before she took his wrists and bent them ever so gently behind his back, bringing them slowly around to the small of his back to be bound by the third chain.

 

Vatra’s side lit up in agony, but he clenched his jaw. The movement of his arms was twisting his ribs, straining the bones and the damaged tissue,  _ oh, God,  _ pulling at the muscles and skin there until he thought both would break, but he stayed quiet and tried to control his breathing.  _ It’s nothing. It’s nothing. It’s nothing.  _

 

Then she began to loosen the front chain and tighten the back one, angling him so that there was a bend in his hips and his helmet rested on the front chain, and the pain grew worse. 

 

Something was going to tear, or snap, or something. That side was on fire, and the ribs were cutting into the flesh they were meant to help protect, the broken skin bleeding, the  _ oh God  _ muscle tearing _ going to—  _

 

He pissed himself before he finally made a noise, and the noise was a short, harsh, shaky gasp that sounded like a wounded animal.

 

Elenia instantly loosed the chains, front, hands, and then back. He collapsed, unable to support himself, but Elenia was terribly strong for a woman, especially a noblewoman, especially a noblewoman of her age, and she caught him quickly and lowered him gently to the floor, armor and all. “Vatra,” she sighed. “Vatra, Vatra. Where?”

 

He let his helmet rest against her chest, panting and shaking, unable to speak.

 

“Vatra,” she crooned. “Vatra, you can tell me, Vatra.” She pulled off his helmet and ran a hand through his sweaty hair, then rubbed his cheek and jaw to get him to stop clenching his teeth. “Talk to me, Vatra.”

 

“I’m  _ sorry,”  _ Vatra said in a broken whisper. “I thought I’d be all right, I didn’t want to tell you, you’d stop…”

 

“You still don’t want to stop?” she said, half amused, half dismayed. 

 

“No,” he said desperately. “I’d dearly like to finish, my lady.”

 

She sighed. “First you have to tell me in detail where you’re hurt, and  _ promise  _ me you’ll tell me should I aggravate it in any way. Do you understand?”

 

“Yes,” he whispered. “I understand.” He took a few deep, shuddering breaths before he continued. “It’s bruising on my right side, around to my back. Maybe cracked ribs. It was all right when I was lifted, just pressure, but then you moved my arms, and it  _ twisted—” _

 

“Shh,” Elenia said gently. “Thank you, Vatra. Thank you for telling me. It’s very important that I can trust you to tell me the truth. I know you know that, but I also know it’s difficult for you sometimes, when it comes to your own well-being, and that makes me appreciate this all the more.” She stroked his forehead. “Now. You say you were all right before I bound your hands. If I leave them unbound, do you think you can manage?”

 

“Yes,” he said immediately.

 

“Vatra,” she said, warning in her voice. “Think about it carefully.”

 

He tried. It took him time, but he got there in the end. “Yes,” he breathed. “Yes, I can. And… I think, if you move my hands in front of me instead of behind, you can bind them as well, my lady.”

 

“Perhaps,” she allowed. “I’m going to pour you another drink of water, you’ll rest for a few minutes, and we’ll reevaluate. All right?”

 

“Yes.” It was a weak little word, and he disliked its sound.

 

She helped him onto the bed, where he could lean against the headboard, and brought him a cup of water. Then she sat next to him and pressed herself up against him. “My poor knight,” she murmured in his ear. “You’re altogether too brave.”

 

He finished the water and set it down. “I’m ready to serve, my lady.”

 

“You could,” Elenia allowed, “but you shan’t. I’ve commanded you to rest, and you shall obey me, or suffer the consequences.”

 

“I… am not averse to consequences, my lady.” He heard the hope in his voice and wondered if God would be kind enough to strike him down before he begged her to punish him.

 

“You’re averse to this sort,” she said, nuzzling her head into his neck and planting a soft kiss on his stubbled cheek. “Try to push past your limits again and I’ll send you off to Villander Abbey for a month of recuperation. I’ve half a mind to do it anyway.”

 

“My lady!” he said, unable to stop himself.

 

“You must have a care for yourself, Vatra,” she said, shaking her head. “I enjoy a touch of harshness, of pain that sweetens the pleasure, quite as much as you do, and I’ve nothing against leaving a mark here and there—enough, perhaps, for you to be sore for a day or three—but I’ll not allow you to injure yourself beyond that. You’re a good man, marshal, and I cannot allow good men to suffer so. If you cannot see that here, perhaps you’d see it with time and distance. And I think you’d enjoy Villander.” She kissed him again. “The monks there cultivate wheat and ancient vines in addition to the usual herbs, and the grounds are fragrant with rose and lavender.”

 

“I much prefer nettles,” he said stubbornly. He slid a hand up her gown as he said it, determined to anger her in some way. Oh, God, soft thighs under his gauntleted fingers, she’d strike him at any moment— 

 

She sighed and settled contentedly into the bed, pressing gently against his hand.

 

Hm. This wasn’t going as planned. 

 

He’d provoke a reaction somehow, damn it. He turned over, settling his armored knees between her legs, and leaned over her, ignoring the pain in his side, squeezing a breast with one hand and letting the other flow over her rear and around to her womanly parts.

 

“Gently,” she admonished softly, closing her eyes.

 

He went rougher instead. She had to react at some point. Why wouldn’t she just give him what he needed? She loved it too, he knew it, why was she letting him do this? He shoved a finger up inside her, glove and all, with no preparation. He could not bring himself to hurt her, never, but he had to provoke her somehow.

 

Her eyes flew open, and a long-fingered hand grabbed his wrist. “Vatra!”

 

The sound of her voice, surprised and angry, battered him into immediate submission, and he drew away, unable to continue defying her.

 

She frowned at him. “Vatra. What’s gotten into you?”

 

He looked away, unable to meet her eyes. “I’m sorry, my lady. I thought… that I could coax you into acting upon me.”

 

She sighed. “That  _ does  _ necessitate consequences. In the name of all the blessed saints, marshal, did it not occur to you to  _ ask?”  _

 

He was beginning to feel shame, now. “My apologies.”

 

“That was a great mistake, Vatra,” she said softly. “It demands a significant punishment. The belt, I think, on your back and backside.”

 

The belt. The baroness was skilled with the belt, careful not to hurt anything but the skin, but it brought Vatra no pleasure. It left him sore and stinging for days, and there was no sweet shock of ecstasy that shot between his legs that followed each stroke, as there was with their other play of that sort. And… 

 

“I can’t,” he blurted.

 

Elenia raised her eyebrows. “You can’t?”

 

“I truly can’t. My lady, you know I’d not say no—”

 

Her eyes lit up in understanding. “Vatra. Vatra,  _ thank  _ you. Thank you for telling me.” She pulled him close and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for telling me. I know it’s terribly difficult for you.” A hand slid up behind his head and combed through his hair. “Thank you.”

 

The shame was burning. He was a knight of the realm. He should be able to withstand a belt wielded in play, even with his ribs shrieking at him. He should be able to follow his lady’s commands, bring her pleasure as she desired— 

 

“I can see you thinking.” She kissed him again. “You’ve my permission and command to cease. You’ve disobeyed me today, but of greater importance is that you were in pain, and you found enough trust within yourself to tell me.”

 

“I do trust you, my lady,” he said. He felt small and hurt. “I trust you with anything—”

 

“Anything but fear and pain, Vatra, and trust means little without those,” she said softly. “I thank you for it.” She touched his armor. “May I see?”

 

He hesitated. “Gently, my lady.”

 

“Of course.” Her fingers were light on the buckles of his cuirass, and soft as they removed the plates and unlaced his gambeson. She frowned when she saw the splotches of blood on his pale shirt. Then she pushed that up and out of the way and winced.  _ “Vatra.”  _

 

“Apologies, my lady. It’s… more limiting than I had thought.”

 

“Saints,” she murmured. “You look as though you were struck by a battering ram.”

 

Vatra had seen a man crushed to death by a battering ram by foolish accident, and he shook his head. “Only the minotaur, my lady.”

 

She shook her head with a lopsided smile, one that faded quickly. “I do not wish you to think yourself punished for revealing weakness, but I cannot with good conscience continue with you in such a state. You must see a healer.”

 

_ “No,”  _ Vatra said. It came out as a desperate gasp, and it shamed him. “Please, my lady, I can manage. I swear it. You’ll hear no complaint—”

 

“Vatra,” she said sharply. “No. Your silence is the  _ last  _ thing I desire, the very last.” She took his hands in hers. “You ought to be rewarded for telling me of your pain, but I fear the reward you’d like would only cause you more.” She frowned at him.

 

Then, suddenly, after a silence, she smiled, her face loosening into a relieved grin. “I fear we’ve spent far too much time playing with chain and whip,” she said, her voice verging on laughter. “We’ve forgotten the simpler pleasures.” She pushed her braid over her shoulder, bent over, slid his trousers and breeches out of the way, and took him into her mouth.

 

He shuddered heavily, feeling his flesh quiver like a pained animal. “My lady,” he croaked. His fingers dug into the bed. “My lady, please, you needn’t demean yourself.” He was already hard in her mouth, warm and wet and tight with her tongue  _ doing things  _ to him, and the look she gave him only made it worse. He moaned when her eyes, dark and full of lust, met his. “My  _ lady.” _

 

She slipped free. “Nothing,” she murmured in a deep purr that made him twitch, “nothing that we do together willingly demeans us. We’ve brought each other great pleasure, in this room and out of it, and any creator that looks down upon what we are is unqualified to pass judgement on me.”  

 

Then he was in her mouth again, soft and wet, her hand on the lower half of his cock, and he could not stop his hips from shifting. He put his hands on her shoulders, wanting to feel her body beneath his fingers. Now that he was free of the gloves, he could feel her, warm and soft, her glorious body working to bring him pleasure, and he could feel her lips and tongue on his cock, her hand gently massaging his balls, and he spilled himself far too soon.

 

She smiled up at him, then pulled herself up alongside him again and kissed his own seed into his mouth. He closed his eyes in quiet bliss, and they lay together, bodies warming each other.

 

Some time later, Elenia pressed a small kiss against his neck. “You need time to heal, Vatra,” she breathed. “I’ll send you to Villander.”

 

He jolted awake from the light doze he had fallen into. “My lady,  _ no.” _

 

“Yes,” she said. Her voice was no louder, but there was a hint of steel in it. “You’ll stay there six weeks, and keep yourself well.  _ Heal, _ Vatra. Then come back to me, and I’ll give you what you seek.” She kissed the corner of his jaw. “The delay may make it even sweeter.”

 

“But, my lady—”

 

“What?” There was a touch of smile in her voice now. “You cannot manage without me for six weeks? Or you don’t think you can manage a holiday at a quiet, peaceful abbey, teeming with flowers? I know you’ve a fondness for our northerly clime, but surely a few weeks of sun and warmth would not utterly destroy you.”

 

“My lady,” Vatra said stiffly. “You mock me.”

 

“Yes, I do.” Elenia’s smile was a little sad. “I am sorry, for what worth you may find in it. I don’t much like being without you any more than you like being without me. But it will make our reunion all the sweeter. Think of it! You’ll have no injury holding you back. You’ll be refreshed, and our lust and senses will be sharpened from weeks of separation. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, yes?”

 

“It hardly seems possible,” he muttered, then wondered why in the name of all the saints he had said that aloud.

 

She kissed his lips, then. “I know,” she said softly. “I feel much the same, my wonderful knight. But I’ll not have you suffer true pain on my account. Such pain as sweetens the moment, that I’ll give you happily, but this? No, never.” She frowned a little and watched him in silence for a time. 

 

“I must be more careful with you,” she said eventually. “You should have had companions to face a beast such as a minotaur, and I should never have given you such a foolish instruction as to look at its parts. How if it had seen you? No, I’ll take greater care. You may be my knight, and seem unshakeable enough, but you are still only a man.” She pressed closer against him.

 

He wanted to tell her that she need not concern herself with his welfare, that he was no child that needed looking after. But his ribs were giving him stabbing pains on each breath, and he knew that she was right. He must take greater care, and if he could not do it, then she must do it for him.

 

She was warm against him, and soft, and reassuring, and inviting, and he let himself melt into her gratefully.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try some medieval bondage because that just sounded fun as hell, so this is the first part of it. I'm 90% sure there's only two parts, but I never really know until I'm finished with something, so I'm not putting a definite chapter count on it until the second part is actually done. I apologize from the bottom of my heart for the title but I also love it and am not changing it.


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